Shutter Island

[zoiks]

Yea the movie wasn't terrible but it wasn't good. The last line made you think for a quick second then you remembered how mediocre the rest of the movie was and how predictable it was.

I bet if what Leo was thinking about the lighthouse turned out to be true, I bet this would be an epic movie for a lot of people.

 

[CKent]

Book was pretty good. I don't have much hope for the film, even good actors and directors can only make a great book into a good film (eg. The Shining), but never really manage to capture the imagination that makes the written word so powerful. And more often than not they wreck it in the attempt. Notable exception being Fight Club.

 

[zerocool84]

If the whole movie was good, it would have made the ending even better.

Spoiler

You don't know whether he is still crazy at the end or sane and can't live with knowing he killed his wife and wants to die or if the Nazi brain washing worked.

This is what saved the movie from being a bad movie. The acting was good as usual by DiCaprio but everything upto the ending was only ok.

 

[moshquerade]

SPOILERS BELOW:




Finally saw it.

For those of you that did... what is your opinion, was he actually insane or were they trying to talk him into insanity?

I love the last line, "is it better to be a good man and die or a monster and live?"

And it leads me to believe he wasn't insane, but knew they were going to lobotomize him any way. He wasn't going to allow that to happen and was going to force death instead.


Either way, I agree DiCaprio is a talented actor, and made the movie awesome.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

.... Movie was alright, ending was extremely predictable

This. Definitely predicted it.

 

[moshquerade]

This. Definitely predicted it.

How was it predictable? It was unresolved.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

SPOILERS BELOW:




Finally saw it.

For those of you that did... what is your opinion, was he actually insane or were they trying to talk him into insanity?

I love the last line, "is it better to be a good man and die or a monster and live?"

And it leads me to believe he wasn't insane, but knew they were going to lobotomize him any way. He wasn't going to allow that to happen and was going to force death instead.


Either way, I agree DiCaprio is a talented actor, and made the movie awesome.

I think he was "insane." The movie made you want to think he was normal, but I really thought otherwise at the end. They even stated during the movie that they played roles for other patients. And it was kinda lame because it ended up they were doing the same for him.

As for "is it better to be a good man and die or a monster and live?", I just to that as him admitting he was a "monster" for the murders and he didn't want to live that way so he basically chose to be lobotomized.

 

[moshquerade]

I think he was "insane." The movie made you want to think he was normal, but I really thought otherwise at the end.

As for "is it better to be a good man and die or a monster and live?", I just to that as him admitting he was a "monster" for the murders and he didn't want to live that way so he basically chose to be lobotomized.

Did he choose to be lobotomized? It showed him going with them for that procedure, but it was left open. He well could have forced them to shoot and kill him instead. That way a "good man" died, and a monster (him, lobotomized) didn't live.

 

[V00DOO]

How was it predictable? It was unresolved.

Right, I watched it and I still don't know WTF is going on.

 

[AndroidVageta]

I thought the movie was pretty damn good...classic Scorsese and DiCaprio!

Only thing that ruined it for me and made it less interesting than it was is the ending of the film...not because I predicted it, but because my girlfriend played the "puzzle/quest" game based on the film and kinda ruined the movie for me having already known the ending...

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Did he choose to be lobotomized? It showed him going with them for that procedure, but it was left open. He well could have forced them to shoot and kill him instead. That way a "good man" died, and a monster (him, lobotomized) didn't live.

Well I figured he casually walked to them and with them so he chose to the lobotomy. I think the "die a good man" was not about actually dying but about getting the lobotomy (his memories die and the person he lived his entire life as). I figure if he really wanted to die, they would've showed him try to escape and get shot or something. That's what makes me think he chose lobotomy.

 

[darkxshade]

I think Scorcese left that open enough so that you can see it either way and wouldn't be right or wrong. I choose not to take a side.

 

[moshquerade]

Well I figured he casually walked to them and with them so he chose to the lobotomy. I think the "die a good man" was not about actually dying but about getting the lobotomy (his memories die and the person he lived his entire life as). I figure if he really wanted to die, they would've showed him try to escape and get shot or something. That's what makes me think he chose lobotomy.

Didn't it seem like they were going to let him go if he stayed with reality? They were lined up looking at him, and then he spoke to his "psychiatrist" like he was his "partner Chuck" again and that guy gave a nod like, "this guy went off the deep end again" to the guys waiting to escort him.

 

[AndroidVageta]

I think a lot of you are thinking to deeply about the ending...to me the ending made perfect sense and closed the story off with no real "wtf happened?"

Guy was crazy...they tried playing roles to knock him out of it...it worked, but not for long...they lobotomized him because the treatment didnt take and he was too "dangerous" to be left in his fantasy world of being a detective.

Maybe its just me, but the movie ended with a completely coherent ending...very good!

 

[TheVrolok]

Did he choose to be lobotomized? It showed him going with them for that procedure, but it was left open. He well could have forced them to shoot and kill him instead. That way a "good man" died, and a monster (him, lobotomized) didn't live.

I'm fairly certain you're supposed to assume he decided to get lobotomized. I don't think there was anything unresolved about it, they don't have to show him actually getting surgery. Could he have forced them to shoot and kill him? I suppose, but what reason would there be to assume he did anything other than have the lobotomy? Either way, I enjoyed the movie, but did agree that the ending was mostly predictable. It was obvious, even from the previews, that the "extra patient" was Leo D, but I wasn't positive if Leo was going to turn out to have been always crazy, or driven to it.

 

[moshquerade]

I think Scorcese left that open enough so that you can see it either way and wouldn't be right or wrong. I choose not to take a side.

It was left open to debate. I didn't like that it wasn't resolved though.

 

[moshquerade]

I'm fairly certain you're supposed to assume he decided to get lobotomized. I don't think there was anything unresolved about it, they don't have to show him actually getting surgery. Could he have forced them to shoot and kill him? I suppose, but what reason would there be to assume he did anything other than have the lobotomy? Either way, I enjoyed the movie, but did agree that the ending was mostly predictable. It was obvious, even from the previews, that the "extra patient" was Leo D, but I wasn't positive if Leo was going to turn out to have been always crazy, or driven to it.

well, that's it... we didn't know if he was always crazy, because they were definitely good at getting people to believe they were.

 

[TheVrolok]

well, that's it... we didn't know if he was always crazy, because they were definitely good at getting people to believe they were.

Were they? I don't believe they have drove a character to become crazy, or even mentioned that happening. I thought the ending was pretty clear in displaying Leo D as having been crazy the entire time.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Didn't it seem like they were going to let him go if he stayed with reality? They were lined up looking at him, and then he spoke to his "psychiatrist" like he was his "partner Chuck" again and that guy gave a nod like, "this guy went off the deep end again" to the guys waiting to escort him.

Yes, they were going to let him go if he seemed like he was healed or whatever. I do believe he acted like he was still crazy because he wanted to get the lobotomy, hence the "die a good man or live a monster" statement. He didn't want to "live" (re: see what they said the lobotomies did, basically like not living especially like former selves) like a monster because he realized he was a murderer. Die a good man meant him dying of old age after he got lobotomized. He chose to die like a good man and got lobotomy and didn't want to live like a monster (get out and live with memories of killing his family).

 

[moshquerade]

Were they? I don't believe they have drove a character to become crazy, or even mentioned that happening. I thought the ending was pretty clear in displaying Leo D as having been crazy the entire time.

They could have set him up so that he couldn't blow the lid off the place... They were conducting some pretty big human rights violations there.

 

[TheVrolok]

They could have set him up so that he couldn't blow the lid off the place... They were conducting some pretty big human rights violations there.

What human rights violations?

 

[moshquerade]

What human rights violations?

alright.. maybe my reality is skewed here.

weren't they experimenting on some of the people there?

 

[GlacierFreeze]

What human rights violations?

None. Mosh is believing his paranoia that they showed throughout the movie. It was all in his head the whole movie.

 

[TheVrolok]

alright.. maybe my reality is skewed here.

weren't they experimenting on some of the people there?

What GlacierFreeze said. By the end, the viewer is allowed to see that all the talk of "Ghosts" and experimentation was part of the delusion Leo used to protect himself from the truth of his circumstances. I think the movie essentially explicates itself in the last 5-10 minutes, now whether you want to take that for what it's worth or come up with your own interpretation is up to you, and your right as a viewer/critic.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

alright.. maybe my reality is skewed here.

weren't they experimenting on some of the people there?

Well, the lobotomies were for the ones they couldn't help and as a last resort. They were probably doing some stuff with some medicine, but it wasn't as bad as how it was shown during the movie. Most of it was overblown because that's just how De Caprio's character was seeing it. That's the only viewpoint they showed until the end, his delusional paranoid viewpoint.